


Behind Closed Doors

by LordYellowtail



Series: When Not Distracted by Kittens and Rubies [3]
Category: Daredevil (Comics), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men Evolution
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Charles is Also Hard to Write Because My Brain Wants to Make Him Sound Like Dumbledore, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Do Not Threaten Charles Xavier's Children, Episode AU: s02e03 Bada-Bing Bada-Boom, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Gen, Wolverine is Hard to Write, Xavier Knows More Than He Wants to About His X-Men Despite His Best Efforts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 13:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5165156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordYellowtail/pseuds/LordYellowtail
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles Xavier is a good man, even a great man. But when his children are threatened in his home, he is not a particularly nice man.</p><p>Logan and Charles discuss deadbeat dads, self-counseling children, and things that probably should not be done with strawberries.</p><p>An AU fix-fic wherein Charles Xavier is as aggressively protective of his children in the early seasons as he is later on, and Kurt and Rogue's relationship has more surprising and useful ripple effects.</p><p><strong>Series Order Note: </strong>Series order may change as new stories are posted, since I'm ordering them in chronological order, not posting order. Please check the series page for the latest correct arrangement of each story in the AU timeline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Behind Closed Doors

**Author's Note:**

> Tabitha is too often this fandom’s punching bag, IMHO. So here's a set of circumstances where she doesn't leave the X-Men. I honestly hated that she did. Yes, she was still awesome and had some key roles in later episodes, but I did not like the implication that you were either perfect enough and came from a proper enough background to be an X-Man, or you were a flawed human being that had gone through some terrible stuff and your only other option was the Brotherhood. Not what the show intended and I'm being overly simplistic, but there were unfortunate implications all over Episode 2.03.
> 
> I'm pleased that this AU is expanding, in spite of myself.

“Yes, I understand. I appreciate your diligence, Matthew. I should have seen to this months ago, but things have been—yes, quite right. With any luck, this will be as straightforward as you say, but I doubt Raven will acquiesce quietly. I look forward to seeing you at our meeting on Monday. … And to you. Good day.” Charles Xavier sighed, pulling the phone from his ear and returning it to its cradle, then slumping back in his wheelchair. He couldn’t let his students see him frustrated or exhausted, but none of them were near. In fact, the only person he could sense anywhere close by had just begun to open the door to his office. He smiled, letting the stress roll off his shoulders with the ease of long practice (and a bare touch of his considerable psychic powers) and straightening up in his chair just as the door swung fully open. “Good morning, Logan.”

  


“Mornin’, Chuck,” the burly Canadian growled as he threw himself into one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk, still wearing traces of that familiar hangdog expression he reserved for Charles—the one that seemed to ask why Xavier had once more forbidden him from pummeling the daylights out of someone who truly (in Logan’s opinion) deserved it.

  


Logan nodded at the phone. “Caught the tail end of that when I was walkin’ in here. You really think you can get Mystique’s adoption of Rogue cancelled that easily?”

  


Charles thought for a moment, and decided to be honest. “No. Mr Murdock is a brilliant attorney, and certainly well-versed enough in these sorts of matters, but he has never dealt with Mystique. We will prevail, but it will be a longer, more fraught process than he expects. Still, with luck we will be able to surprise Rogue with the good news before her next birthday.”

  


Logan nodded. “Hope so. Stripes don’t need that witch hangin’ over anymore. The elf don’t, either, come to that. It’s puttin’ more stress on both of ‘em than they wanna admit.” He paused, scowl settling over his face. “I just got back,” Logan growled. “Mr. Father of the Year took the cab straight to the airport and made the plane on time, no problem.” He gave Charles a penetrating, almost-befuddled look. “Explain to me _again_ why we decided to send Boom-Boom’s old man to _Vegas_ after all the shi—“ he quelled himself a bit at Charles’ look, “— _crap_ he tried to pull? Did you pay some mobsters to beat the hell out of him and dump him in the desert?” He smirked, just the polite side of vicious. “That’s not like you, Chuck.”

  


Charles’ own anger had pressed against his control with ever-increasing force since Jason Smith had shown up in Bayville. Logan would hardly think less of him for honesty. “No,” he said quietly, letting himself give in to the ugly scowl he had been holding back since the full scope of Mr. Smith’s transgressions had become known to him, voice surprisingly calm even to his own ears. “I must admit that would not have satisfied me.”

  


Logan’s eyebrows shot up. Surely just because Charles never entertained his darker impulses Logan didn’t doubt he had them?

  


Charles sighed, wishing he had more tea. A popping of adamantium claws—and yet more gouges in Charles’ desk (Jean kept moving the guest chairs closer-in every time Charles had Scott place them at Logan-safe distance, for some reason)—accompanied Logan’s latest struggle with his temper. Charles waited a moment for him to calm and retract them. “After his last altercation with the children, just before you and Storm … escorted … him out, I decided I needed to know exactly why he was so desperate to get her back under his control.” Logan gave no reaction, but Charles’ grip on his wheelchair’s armrests tightened until his knuckles went white. “He had signed on as the demolitions expert in a rather over-ambitious and dangerous museum heist in Denver. He, of course, has no such talent.”

  


Logan gritted his teeth. “He needed Boom-Boom to do it for him. Those kinda places have _armed guards_ , Chuck. Even if the jackass wasn’t packing heat, the kid setting off her time bombs would’ve made it armed robbery. And he ain’t no con-artist. If he killed the guards, Tabby’s on the hook for felony murder. Odds are the cops would’a shown up and come in shootin’. And her Pops ain’t the type to make sure she got away if it interfered with savin’ his own neck. _Damn._ ”

  


“Quite,” Charles nodded, choosing to ignore Logan’s muttered _should’ve stabbed him anyway, no matter what ‘Ro would’a said._ “In our first meeting I failed to probe his intentions beyond seeing Tabitha. Any contact at all was unacceptable; I warned him off and left it at that. A terrible mistake.” Charles rubbed his temples. “I only wish things had not spun so drastically out of control after I had to turn my attention to dealing with Bobby and Jubilee’s latest mishap with Principal Kelly. Had Amara not interfered, I’m certain Mr. Smith would have managed to manipulate Tabitha back into going with him.”

  


Charles leaned forward, elbows on the desk, crossing his fingers in front of his face. “So, _yes_ , Logan, merely letting you and Storm express your displeasure before sending him staggering off down the road did not satisfy me.”

  


He felt his lips curving into a small, vicious little smile. No one threatened his children. “I put the idea in his head to ask me for a plane ticket to Vegas as part of his _choosing_ to leave. As it happens, several days ago while scanning with Cerebro, I happened on a mutant criminal of minor abilities attending a planning meeting for a robbery of a quite successful, well-known Vegas casino mogul’s estate. I have tracked their preparations, gathering enough information to give a detailed anonymous tip to the local authorities. After I realized Mr Smith must not return… He is not a complicated man, Logan. He will take a day or so to extricate himself from the job he had planned with Tabitha and no doubt entertain himself with whatever street-side dalliance he can afford. One of the members of the Vegas conspiracy needs to find another person to assist with the heavy lifting—some of the art pieces they’re after are quite heavy, and one of them has a back injury. Tomorrow, I will see that he has the idea to seek out Mr. Smith and offer him a place on their team. I don’t have to influence Mr Smith to accept. In anticipation of the job he planned with Tabitha going smoothly, heaccumulated a rather alarming amount of debt from some very unsavory people that he is now beginning to panic about paying back lest they start removing body parts to adjust his balance.”

  


It took more willpower than he wanted to admit, but with a deep breath, Charles exhaled his vicious anticipation of springing the trap. He had to be better than that. “He’s too desperate not to agree. It won’t be as much money as he’d have gotten from the museum heist, but it will keep him from, as you said, being dumped in the desert. … Unless, of course, the police receive an anonymous tip that causes them to show up while Mr Smith and his friends are in the middle of things.” Charles leaned back in his chair, idly wondering if his gaze looked as hard as it felt. “Given their intended victim’s pull with the local politicians and district attorney, I don’t think Mr Smith will be leaving Nevada for several years.”

  


For a moment, all was silent, and then— _I don’t think I’ve heard Logan laugh quite that hard since we found Hank after he had gotten caught in the middle of one of Kitty and Kurt’s prank wars. Bright pink fur really didn’t suit him. I’m still not sure how Kitty managed the red polka-dots, though._ Charles blinked. _Is he wiping a tear from his eye? Surely not._

  


“Damn, Chuck,” Logan chuckled. “Nicely done. I’m impressed.” He sobered rather quickly. “Still wish we could’a done something different to keep it all from gettin’ so crazy in the first place, but damned if I know what.”

  


Charles nodded. ”Me, too, old friend. Luckily, I think in the long run most of the drama will prove harmless. Unfortunately, I never imagined he would be desperate enough to air the details of Tabitha’s past in front of the entire Institute when he realized he wasn’t getting his way. He must have intended to alienate her from the rest of us so she would see no alternative but to return to his side. I’m proud the children rallied around her while you and Storm dealt with getting him off the property, but, Logan, I could sense Tabitha’s mental upheaval. If you could have felt—“

  


Logan shook his head violently. “I could see it in her eyes, Chuck. Smell the fear, too.” He spoke quietly, in a more sympathetic voice than most people probably imagined him capable of. “I’m thinkin’ Boom-Boom’s been a walking disaster area since she got here because she thinks we’re putting on an act. She’s been tryin’ to figure out how far she can push us before we quit pretendin’ we ain’t just like her old man and crack her ‘cross the mouth or scream somethin’ at her I ain’t about to repeat in decent company. She wanted us to just get it over with. The longer she stayed the harder it would be to leave when we finally pulled the rug out from under her.”

  


“Indeed.” Charles very carefully kept his face neutral as he nodded. Logan’s intelligence and understanding of those around him had stopped surprising him a long time ago. One did not remain alive and well doing the type of work Logan was infamous for doing better than anyone else without a thorough understanding of how people worked.

  


Logan scrubbed at his eyes, his hand twitching in the way Charles knew meant he really wished he had a beer. “Here’s the part I still don’t get. Even after we were rid of the jackass and the kids had their Brady Bunch moment with her, Tabby didn’t seem like she thought she belonged here no more. I was expectin’ her to bail. But the next morning she was … not fine, but still here. She’s _still_ still here. How did ya swing that?”

  


Laughter bubbed up Charles’ chest, and he gave in, happy to have a reason to steer clear of unpleasant memories—at least until Tabitha’s next therapy session. Those were bound to be more interesting now. “Oh, I’m afraid I had nothing to do with that. The children appear to have handled it themselves that very night.”

  


Logan raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

  


A brief telepathic pulse found Jean in the kitchen, and Charles quickly thought a request at her to bring him a new pot of Earl Grey. She pulsed an affirmation back at him. “Yes. I did not see fit to deeply probe those involved for the details, especially as I am hopeful Tabitha will eventually provide them during one of our sessions and I would rather use the opportunity to further build her trust, but Jaime and Rahne happened to be playing a game of tag in the hallway near Tabitha and Amara’s room at the time.” _At 3AM. I need to speak to them about that at some point._ “We spoke briefly this morning; I got the basics.”

  


Logan snorted. “The pipsqueak deciding to snoop don’t surprise me. Not really Rahne’s style, though.”

  


“No, I suppose not,” Charles said, shaking his head. “The door was closed, but there was apparently quite a bit of yelling involved.” Logan raised an eyebrow. “I gathered that Amara intended to talk her into staying, but wasn’t confident in her ability to do it alone. She decided to—and these are Jaime’s words, not mine—‘get help from the two people in the Institute with the most experience not letting their criminal, lunatic parent ruin their lives.’ Despite being woken up in the middle of the night, Kurt and Rogue were apparently quite eager to participate in Amara’s intervention. And persuasive. And loud. Unfortunately, Rogue’s voice didn’t travel well through the walls, so neither of them were exactly sure what she said, but she went on at length and was quite ‘growly.’ Rahne approved. I’m told Kurt put on some sort of ‘rage-y puppet show’ at some point, according to Jaime, but I hope you’ll understand if I didn’t ask him for whatever details he overheard. In any case, as you well know, Kurt and Rogue have extremely strong opinions on the subject.”

  


“You’re not a fan of puppets,” Logan chortled, and rather than think on one of his few phobias, Charles’ chose to believe Logan’s amusement was purely at the thought of Kurt channeling all his anger and frustration at Mystique into some sort of overly-complex routine involving socks and barely serviceable ventriloquism. “Whatever they said must’ve been more than just howlin’ at the moon, if it convinced Tabby to stay. One of the most stubborn kids you’ve found so far. Good on ‘em. Nice to know they can take care of at least some’a the important stuff without us.” Logan grinned, looking quite proud.

  


“It is indeed,” Charles said. “Were it not likely to cause more problems, I would tell Mystique her increasingly slap-dash attempts to interfere in Kurt and Rogue’s relationship have actually given them the perspective and tools to mentor our younger students more effectively. Though ideally they would do so without yelling. Or puppets.”

  


Logan snorted, and gave him an odd look. “Chuck, not that I give a damn, but does it ever bother you that one of the least-ridiculous pairs of love-struck teenagers around here are technically in an illegal relationship? That’s a scandal we don’t need. Surprised Mystique hasn’t tried to report them.”

  


“It is certainly … an unfortunate situation, but under the circumstances in no way unhealthy. Mystique abandoned them both—neither knew she was their mother. They had no knowledge of each other until they came to Bayville, and no knowledge of their adoptive relationship until after Mystique knew they were courting and used it to against them. None of the risk factors justifying the illegality of relationships between adoptive siblings are present here. And I certainly approve of both of them keeping clear of Mystique in general. And Irene Adler, come to that. However sincere Destiny’s affection for Rogue, her loyalty is to Mystique first, and she did not hesitate to endanger her on Raven’s orders. The pursuit of some nebulous ideal future is no excuse for that. But neither will try to report Rogue and Kurt to the authorities. They cannot risk an investigation into their own past behavior with the children.”

  


Logan snorted again. “Don’t have to sell me on it. Stripes and the Elf are good for each other, and not nearly as frustrating to watch as Slim and Red.” Logan made an exasperated noise deep in his throat. Charles could sympathize. “Still, you’re worried. That’s why you’re tryin’ to get Rogue’s adoption tossed out; you don’t want that blue psycho and her fortune teller to have any legal influence over Rogue.”

  


_And I would prefer to have legal custody of all my children who don’t have real parents of their own._ Charles nodded. “I should’ve done it when I learned Mystique adopted her, but in light of the usual chaos and other emergencies … well. Given how things developed I’ve decided I need to re-order my priorities. And besides, I can hardly have their relationship disrupted when it is proving so beneficial to certain other students,” he finished with a smirk.

  


“Ugh,” Logan squeezed his eyes shut. “The last thing I need is more kids tryin’ to act like the Elf. Mansion already gets enough holes blasted in it as it is.”

  


Charles chortled. “You know, Logan, I’m surprised you didn’t already know all this. It all happened around 3 AM. The children are convinced you have the Institute under absolute surveillance after sundown.”

  


Logan smirked at that, always happy to be reminded the children remained in fear and awe and terror of him. “Nah. I’d already done a sweep at 2:30. I was up in my room watchin’ _Good Eats_. Finally figured out how to get the chocolate to melt in my fondue machine without burnin’ it. Gonna need to hit the store again, though,” he mused. “Need another couple boxes of fresh strawberries. Not sure why they gotta be fresh if we’re just gonna freeze ‘em and the rest of the fruit anyway, and I still say usin’ smoked meats and melted cheese is better, but ‘Ro—“ his eyes widened, and he seemed to remember that Charles was in the room. His mouth snapped shut with a great clacking of teeth. “Ahem,” he cleared his throat, quite manfully, eyes flickering about the room as if trying to summon Magnus or some other suitable distraction by force of will.

  


_…What?_ An increasingly awkward silence stretched, but then Charles sensed Jean approaching his door. _The tea. Thank God._ Logan rapidly schooled his face back into nonchalance. Charles thought about the things one might do with a fondue set in the dead of night, and decided to dip into the hidden drawer in his desk. Earl Grey tea with a splash of vodka was a treat he did not enjoy often enough. Perhaps if he offered Logan some straight up he’d stop fidgeting, as well. Yes. That sounded like a plan.

**Author's Note:**

> Including this here at the end because it turned out not to fit organically anywhere in the story and I don’t have any other fic ideas where it would naturally come up. Since it’s kind of a key background event for AUing the episode, I that I should mention it.
> 
> I tried to imply it, but it might not be immediately obvious that Tabitha’s canon mishap with Kurt in their search-and-rescue training, which served to ostracize her from the other students to a degree and make it easier for her father to try to manipulate her (and led to some Kurt/Tabby ship-tease that went absolutely no-where, much to my annoyance), didn’t actually happen this time around.
> 
> Tabitha actually performed very well in the simulation in this AU, as she was quite focused and not willing to mess around, and when she’s not acting out she’s fairly competent. It comes down to Kurt not being single. Not because she's interested in Kurt (I think my tagging makes my intentions clear). Tabitha knows that endangering Kurt’s safety means dealing with Rogue at her scariest (and vice versa), and that is simply not on.
> 
> Better living through being terrified of your teammates’ deranged love-driven tempers, _ja _?__


End file.
